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Study: Grand Haven’s street trees’ total worth $3.46M

A recent study for the city of Grand Haven has shed new light on the state of the more than 5,000 trees lining the community's streets.
According to the study, 62 percent of the trees in Grand Haven are maple, with the remaining 38 percent made up of other tree types.

Mark Brooky

Grand Haven

Feb 9, 2012

“We have a significant amount of maples, which isn’t a bad thing — we just have too many of them,” said the city’s sustainability coordinator, Ian Blanding.

By knowing how many of what type of tree is in the city, officials can determine what other types to plant to make the tree population more diverse.

City Councilman Mike Fritz said the plan gave insight on what the city could do different when planting new trees.

“We definitely do have to change what we’re doing here and plant some different types of trees,” he said.

“All of these things bring us to an estimated value of our treescape,” Blanding said.

The average value of a tree in Grand Haven is $660, Blanding said. With more than 5,000 street trees, this brings a total street treescape value of $3.46 million.
“The forest service says healthy, mature trees can add 10-20 percent to property values,” Blanding said.

The trees also reduce carbon dioxide by as much as 250,000 pounds per year, conserve energy, clean air and water, and create a habitat for wildlife, Blanding said.

To read more of this story, see today’s print or e-edition of the Grand Haven Tribune.